Manipulation in the hearing practices in the EIA procedure for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant

After an investigation into the hearing practices in the EIA procedure for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, it was found that all the hearings were submitted to manipulation practices.

On the basis of first hand witness statements, the authors of the report conclude that the outcome of the hearings cannot be seen as representative of the opinion of involved stakeholders. During the hearings, critical remarks, suggestions and opinions were structurally obstructed in the process. Techniques used to accomplish this include: extremely biased statements in the available EIA documentation, as well as a large number of factual untruths; the mentioning of untrue facts during the hearings to a lowly educated public; bringing a large number of people from outside the region to one hearing in order to prevent the local population to express its opinion; attempted manipulation of speaking time; limited announcement of hearings; minimal preparation time; intimidating presence of authorities; and bad translation.

Co-author Jan Haverkamp, expert consultant on nuclear issues in Central Europe for the World Information Service on Energy (WISE) and Greenpeace concluded: "We call upon the Bulgarian Environmental Ministry to demand either new hearings or not accept the final EIA report as additional information and concerns from more critical sides could not be included in the process." The other author, Petko Kovachev of CEE Bankwatch added that because of these practices, the EIA procedure as a whole falls far short of EU practices. Kovachev remarked: "The manipulations found follow patterns from staged meetings under communism. I am ashamed to see that Bulgaria as possible candidate for the EU still thinks it can get away with thesekind of practices."